With countless movies and albums already under her belt and new album Amanda Leigh on its way this May, the multi-talented Mandy Moore took some time to talk with Joshua about her current project. Check the interview out here:
Mandy Moore: How are you?
Joshua, PopWreckoning: I'm very good, thank you. How are you?
MM: I'm doing well, thank you.
PW: That's awesome. Well, I only have 15 minutes, so I'm going to go ahead and bust into it, which is kind of insensitive.
MM: No, no, no, jump right in.
PW: I'm sure you get asked this question a lot and I'm sure it's really annoying. If you would, please describe the process of going from an artist in the same vein as Jessica Simpson and Britney Spears to an artist often compared to like Martha Wainwright and Rachael Yamagata?
MM: Oh my God. Thanks. That's good company to be in. How does an artist do that? I guess over time and if there's really passion to be a real artist and make real music. I don't know. Music was not something I guess I had to continue doing since I had some other stuff going on with the acting side of things, so I don't know. It just came to me. I was just trying to make the right choices , be patient and find the right opportunity to make a record my way, which wasn't necessarily happening when I was 14 or 15.
PW: Fair enough. That was a very good answer.
MM: Thanks.
PW: As an actress and a musician, how do you balance both careers without losing any aspect of either?
MM: I guess just like anybody who has a lot on their plate, it is about prioritizing. Right now, I have the music hat on because the record is coming out in May and as soon as those obligations are filled, I'll put the acting and film hat back on and concentrate on that and the music will take a back seat. You can't spread yourself too thin and do both at the same time. Obviously, you'd really be neglecting both of them, I think. So I try to focus on one at a time and not overwhelm myself. It's pretty easy, actually.
PW: You just mentioned the new album. It drops, May 26, how do you feel that this album differs from Wild Hope?
MM: I think it's the next logical step in one sense, but it also feels like a fully realized body of work. I look at Wild Hope and, to me as an artist, it happened in a writing sense over three or four year period of time. That's something that always sort of sticks out in my mind. Whereas for me, this record definitely has some sort of cohesive thread. It was written all with my friend, Mike [Viola], and he produced. It almost kind of feels like my own sort of weird side project from myself even though it's who I am. Because making the record was such a different process and I just worked with one person on it. It almost spawned the idea of putting it out under a different name, like putting it out under a band name. I wanted to give the music a fighting chance and not for people to just sort of write it off like, "Ugh, that girl's still making music?" I'm very proud of it and I'm proud of Wild Hope as well. I'm just excited to keep getting the opportunity to keep making music because that's what I'm more passionate about.
PW: At PopWreckoning, we definitely loved Wild Hope. It was one of our ten best albums last year.
MM: Aw, thank you. That's awesome.
PW: No problem. I've only heard the new one once, but from what I heard, I did like.
MM: Thank you very much. I'm glad.
PW: You're recently engaged to Ryan Adams (Ed. note: and since, married) and rather than dive into your personal life, which I don't want to do…
MM: Thank you.
PW: Let's do this route, if you as a musician were to cover any of his songs, which would you pick?
MM: Oh God, that's embarrassing.
PW: That's actually harder than the personal life, huh?
MM: Haha. I don't know. I don't know!
PW: I won't make you answer it if you can't.
MM: It's so embarrassing. Let's just say that's to be decided, I guess.
PW: You have been said to have very good taste in music. What artists do you consider so vital that you couldn't live without?
MM: I couldn't live without…I look down at my feet and my dog, Joni, is sitting here and she is named after Joni Mitchell. I know I definitely couldn't live without Joni Mitchell. I couldn't live without Paul McCartney and Wings. I'm a big Wings fan, too. The Beach Boys. Hmm. I'm looking over my records right now. I don't know. Those would probably be the top three for me.
PW: In the same vein as that, to promote the new album, do you know if there is going to be a tour? If so, who will you be taking on the road with you?
MM: I'm definitely having my fingers crossed for the touring aspect with this record. I want Mike to come out on the road with me. He's like my musical comrade and musical partner in crime, especially with this record. Mike. My buddy, Daniel [Undah], who played on Wild Hope and played in my band on the last tour and last go around. I'd like to find a female drummer. Like a really kick ass female drummer that can sing. That would be fun. So, I'd have the four of us up there. That would be the ultimate.
PW: Sounds great. My final question: what projects in film and music will we be seeing you in? What do you have lined up for us in the future?
MM: There are some that I'm looking at, but I'm not necessarily at the place where I can talk about it. There are some indie projects that are going to start about halfway through the year after the record comes out. In terms of music after this, I hope to make another record with my friend, Mike. I don't know. I'd like to be in a band, too. Like a proper band and not necessarily be the lead singer. I don't know if I could make a Wings sort of type band. We'll see. The future is wide open. I'm excited.
Mandy Moore: website | myspace | Wild Hope review
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